Social Fund and Social Fund Commissioner: Annual Reports

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Kitty Ussher) has made the following Statement.
	The Secretary of State's annual report on the Social Fund for 2007-08 (Cm 7483) was published today and has been laid before Parliament.
	The report records that total gross expenditure in 2007-08, excluding winter fuel payments, was £944 million. This included over 247,000 non-repayable community care grants and over 2.6 million interest-free loans together worth over £771 million, funeral and cold-weather payments totalling almost £50 million and more than 243,000 Sure Start maternity grants worth more than £123 million. In addition 8.8 million households benefited from a winter fuel payment at a cost of around £2.1 billion.

Taxation: Double Taxation

Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Stephen Timms) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	A new double taxation convention and protocol with the Netherlands was signed on 26 September 2008. A new tax information exchange agreement with the Isle of Man was signed on 29 September 2008, alongside an arrangement amending the 1955 double taxation arrangement with the Isle of Man.
	After signature, the text of each of these instruments was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and made available on the HM Revenue and Customs website. The texts will be scheduled to draft Orders in Council and laid before the House of Commons in due course.